


If Nightmares Were True, Death Would Come for You

by bellzaboo_huffin



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Strangulation, There's smut, Train Sex, radiation poisoning, raider sole survivor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 14:30:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20155132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellzaboo_huffin/pseuds/bellzaboo_huffin
Summary: Sophie was never a good person. She had a long time of pretending and then Nuka World brought her in. Porter Gage knew her and it was refreshing.





	If Nightmares Were True, Death Would Come for You

**Author's Note:**

> The graphic violence warning is strangulation but it could be triggering so I tagged it anyway. The sole survivor is doing the strangling. Otherwise the character is very angry.   
Also the story features chapters, but since they're short I decided to keep it as a one shot.

Chapter One. 

She’d tried to keep the ruthlessness at bay. Every now and again it slipped. A theft here, a murder there. But after the fall of the Institute and the supply of quests from the Railroad slowed to nearly a trickle, she became reckless.   
Then they’d heard the call of the Nuka-World advertisement and her companion had seen Harvey. She saw through his facade but still went. She called it curiosity. Her companion had called it her good nature. She’d spent the gauntlet actively sabotaging them, but she always made sure they had a stimpack to heal right up. Her good nature was spent as she was bored. She owed no one except the synth replicate of her son. But he didn’t know her, and she left him at the Island full of good people who would take care of him. 

The gauntlet finished after the boring and uninteresting fight with the Cockney man in the power armor. She hated cheats and he deserved his demise. The man who greeted her through the door was tall. About her age. Covered in old blood stains with an eyepatch she suspected hid nothing but a normal eye. Worn it to look cool. Ridiculous and yet. . . 

His facade was an interesting one and she’d wanted to know more. So, she followed him and when he offered to accompany her, she convinced her companion she’d be fine and dismissed them to the Castle. No one there to tell except the radio man who only gave out locations over the air. No wonder the damn settlements were always being attacked. The companion would be fine there. Besides how would anyone find Nuka-World anyway. The train was powered down and if her memory served her correctly Nuka World was nearly a three-hour train ride and a much longer and more dangerous trek. 

He’d come with her and had watched over her interactions with the raider leaders. He had praised her. Gave her more to strive for. Filled the part of her that was a raider and eager to come and play.

Then they cleared out the various parks. The parks that no one had bothered with for over two hundred years. Surprisingly, with Gage at her side, clearing the parks became easier and easier the longer they worked together. The Galactic Zone took a week. They had given it to the Operators. Dry Rock gulch took 2 days, although they didn’t sleep so it only felt like one. The Disciples were lucky to get this one. Safari Adventure took 3 days and she let Cito stay. She never checked up on him. The Pack were the obvious choice for this one. The Bottling plant was tedious, and she let the rage that had begun building up take care of the Queen and the various other ‘lurks and Assaultrons. Took them less than a day and to the Operators the Plant went. 

They spent a day clearing the ghouls from Bradberton. Set up a firing line and they were all drawn out. Ensuring the town was empty was the next task which took longer as there were plenty of hiding spaces and not enough light. After some time, they came across a house that was locked to the brim. Gage had found the entrance through a drainage pipe and in they went. They found nothing but roaches and other vermin. Then they found gold with a suit of power armor. It was a full set, but they hadn’t needed it yet and they left it to rust. Maybe she’d bring it back one day. Probably not given how far it was. 

They spent the night in a house they could easily lock up. They’d slept near each other in case of incident, but none came, aside from the nightmares she kept hiding. And the next morning they were back on track with clearing the parks. 

Soon Kiddie Kingdom came to view. The green misters full of radiation were a menace. The wild goose chase left her with scars and various other quirks that come from being exposed to too much radiation constantly. In and out of buildings, popping Rad-X and hoping nothing came for them while waiting for the Rad-Away to cleanse their systems. By the time they had confronted Oswald, it took everything she had to not puke her guts and pass out. She’d had Gage fish out a holotape she’d found during a detour to the town of Bradberton after clearing the bottling plant. The glowing ghoul left in peace after, leaving behind his sword and his hat as a promise he’d continue to find his cure. 

Once he was gone, Porter had to pull her as far from the rad barrels in the room. The clicking on her pip-boy was slower than it had been, and he had quickly hooked her to another Rad-Away. She’d taken a day of resting before she had awoken panicked. Porter was there and there was no more clicking from the Pip-boy. He’d cleared the area as best he could. From there they had eaten, and she’d seen how he looked more gaunt than usual and neglected to say anything. They assigned the park to the Disciples as a rude joke to Nisha, and bee lined to Nuka-Town USA to get properly treated by Makenzie. 

It took her nearly two weeks to heal up enough to make up and down the elevator. She was bored and Porter had mentioned that someone named Shank was looking to meet her. He wouldn’t come to her though, and so she spent the two weeks sniping birds from the widow of the Fizztop. Her brain constantly fighting sleep from the nightmares from the parks and the nightmares from her husband. She wondered when she would be able to go back to the Commonwealth. She wondered when she’d started referring to Porter as Porter. It must have been before Kiddie Kingdom, though not before the Plant, she was sure. From there her train of thought trails through every touch and meaningful stare. The touches were longer, placed with intention. The stares placed purely on her behalf. Porter rarely slept away from the Fizztop and had moved the cot from inside, to the patio. They had begun having more and more conversations and she had realized she yearned for more of them, more often. 

But then she was healed enough to make a trip out of Nuka-Town and so she packed up and sought out Porter. He voiced his opinion she needed more time to heal, but she claimed she was fine. Then they headed to find Shank. Shank told them it was time to take the fight to the Commonwealth, and as he talked, her smile became larger and scarier. It was time for payback. And no one would be able to save them. After all, it was she who did the saving. Who else would be able to take her own work out?   
  
Chapter Two.

Porter knew who Sophie had been before she’d arrived. He’d scouted her. Sent others to scout her. Minutemen General. Savior of the Synths. Railroad Heavy. Secretly constraining her rage and raider side. She’d stopped murdering the raiders for settlers after a time. Just murdered the leader and watched as they scrambled to find someone new to lead them. Unless they’d kidnapped her settlers. Then every single one of them died, save for the one she always left as a message to the next batch of raiders who dared to cross her. The poor raider almost certainly wished for death. The world wanted a hero and she was a good pretender. No one knew and the ones who did were wise enough to keep their mouths shut. 

And he knew she was what they were looking for. Someone to best Colter. And so, Porter had set everything up. She came, she saw, and she conquered. By the time they had gotten to taking over the Commonwealth he was sure he was in love with her. 

What he did not know, however, was the care she took in taking care of the settlers. Maybe it was the good in her, or maybe it was just a precaution for her goods. But when they had walked up to the first settlement and there were turrets for days, he wasn’t going to lie. He balked. There was no way they were going to be able to take the settlement. 

But then she had walked straight up to the main leader and within 5 minutes had convinced him to clear off to another settlement. She explained her turrets were hard coded to her and used caution on most everything else. The bugs weren’t warm blooded but always triggered the motion detectors set up along the perimeter. He was in awe of this woman. After the settlers cleared out, she had easily set up a raider radio tower and left it for the Operators, and before he knew it, they were back on the train for Nuka World. 

He’d opened for the second time to her. Told her about his childhood about how he ran off, picked up odd jobs, joined gangs that he ended up working with. She was sympathetic but not overly so. She seemed like she knew where his story was heading. He left the conversation with a gnawing feeling in his gut. 

By the time they had 3 raider settlements and 4 vassal settlements, he was spilling his guts about Connor and all that bullshit. By the end of it, she’s got him telling her about how he's been thinking about her and him and he’s laying out his anxieties about their relationship. She manages to convince him in the end and he’s finally able to relax the gnawing feeling and it’s suddenly got a name. 

They head back to Nuka-World and on the train, time slows and suddenly they’re on one another and the air is hotter than usual and shine in her hair is brighter and everything is more intense and he’s needy and eager. She knows what she’s doing, and he’s got no problem letting her. Somehow his armor is off and she’s getting at his jeans. She commands him to strip her and the whole world blurs, as he touches her, and she touches him, and everything gets a bit stickier. The noises she makes is pure bliss and he can’t stop his own sounds from escaping. They just seem to spur her on and finally she lowers herself onto him and he must hold her still for a minute. Of course, she doesn’t stay still, and it becomes a fight for it not to end. He’s sure she’s doing it on purpose and if the train were lit, he’s sure he’d see her shit eating grin. Of course, it does nothing for his self-control. And so, he reaches down to touch her and somehow, he manages to last through her first climax, and he follows closely. 

She’s still on him and she’s still making sounds, but he’s old, and they’re nearly to Nuka World. He tells her so, and, oh, he knows they’re not finished this evening. They are somehow dressed by the time the train pulls into the station, the raiders on watch are at a minimum since it’s late and the ones on duty tend to be high or drunk or both and so they’re able to make it through the plaza and to Fizztop with few prying eyes. They board the elevator and by the time they’re at the top, she hasn’t got her top on. She locked the elevator and she takes him to bed. Now they’re on sturdier ground there’s more room and more ways to play and God if he hasn’t been waking to dreams of this, he would have been sure this was one.   
By sunrise, they’re both spent. Curled together on her bed and he’s watching her fall asleep and he wonders where she’d been his whole life. It’s rhetorical of course, but he’s so head over heels for her he wouldn’t know what would happen if she left or betrayed him. He’s sure she wouldn’t do either. He’s hers and she’s his. It doesn’t seem like it could get better for him. 

By the time they wake there’s chaos down below and he takes care in waking her. He knows she doesn’t sleep and he’s sure this is the first true sleep she’s gotten since they cleared Kiddie Kingdom. He doesn’t want to wake her but he’s getting worried at the ruckus below. 

She awakes with a jolt and he’s quick enough to avoid the punch she throws. He talks at her until she calms down. When she’s calm, she apologizes and he says there’s nothing to apologize for, Boss. He’s sure the name is setting flame another type of fire, but there seems to be literal ones below. He’s telling her so, and she’s in a flurry to get dressed and armed and armored. She helps him put his armor on and they’re on the unlocked elevator heading to the Market to see Shank. She’s angry and so damn beautiful. 

Shank tells them that the Pack has revolted against them, and Gage sees her eyes turn dark and her hand tightens on her gun. She thanks Shank for the information and then turns on her heel and heads to the power plant. He sees Shank give her a look and he’s sure Shank caused it. He’s also sure Shank won’t live to see tomorrow.   
  
Chapter three.

She is angry. Pissed off, seething. Her .44 is more than enough to take care of anything they come across, which isn’t much but that just fuels the fire. 

How dare they?! The insolent bastards. There was a reason the Pack got more than a fair share when she divided the settlements. They would have thrived within the Commonwealth. Not too vicious, not too stupid or too self-driven. Fuck Mason. It was time the dog was put down. 

Mags, William, and Nisha were waiting near the guard post to the Power Plant. Porter talks her into talking with them. They agree on a plan and she leads the charge. Clearing the Plant is simple. The lesser Pack members are either scared of her or are too stupid to stay out of her way and they’re gunned down. The ones who do stay out of the way will be given to the other gangs, or they’ll become traders. 

They reach the roof as the night begins to fall. She turns on her Pip-boy light and welcomes anyone dumb enough to approach her. She underestimates Mason’s firepower and jumps out of the way once she hears the grenade split into smaller grenades. Most of them fall off the side of the building and she gets up and moves around until she finds the greedy bastard’s flaming red hair. She moves up on the scaffolding. 

She lets a round off into his gun arm, another into his left leg where she knows he’s got a knife stored. The gun drops and he’s on the ground clutching his limbs in pain. The adrenaline isn’t enough to keep him going. He’s all bark and no bite. It might have been there years ago but not today. Not when it matters.

She crossed the space between them swiftly and without problem. He’s screaming and trying to fend her off. He’s in too much pain to fight effectively though and she’s able to get her arms around his neck. Suddenly he is clawing at her and kicking, but he’s losing air and she’s telling him he should have left good enough alone, but greedy pigs get nothing but slaughter. Her gauntlet protects her from his survival attempts. She whispers into his ear until he stops fighting and goes limp. She stands and picks up his gun from the ground. For good measure, she blows his brains out and spits on the mess she’s made. 

She takes the key off his corpse and gestures to Porter to turn the power on. He takes the key from her and turns the power on and when he returns to her, she’s wearing Mason’s Yao Gaui finger necklace. It’s covered in blood, and the fury in her eyes is still there. She’s sitting on the scaffolding watching the lights come on one by one. Park by park. From her perch above the traitor, she leans into Porter and he holds her while they watch the Park light up like it should have done 200 years ago.   
  
Chapter four.

After repairing the damage that Mason had caused within Nuka World, the leftover Pack were distributed between the remaining raider groups. Everyone left attended a great speech. Porter had helped with the drafting but otherwise it was purely her. To her right was Porter, to her left was the remaining leaders of the raiders. It was a short speech. She talked about how it would be from now on. The raiders were going to have to live more civilized. She wouldn’t take away their freedoms, or their right for murder, but now there would be less backstabbing, and unsolved problems. She was a lawyer before and goddamn if these people didn’t need led. She made it clear that if there was another uprising like Mason’s it better be dealt with before she caught wind otherwise it was everyone’s problem. 

She dismissed the crowd and waved off the leaders. She and Porter had one final date with the Commonwealth. She had to deal with her own nightmares. The next morning, they had set out to Sanctuary.

Unsurprisingly, Garvey knew about her. He was in Sanctuary and she was passing through. She’s not surprised at his reactions. Her appearance changed so drastically. The commonwealth changed more than her. All she did was stop lying to herself. She supposes word does get around after all. She’s only been gone for three months, but the traders talk and are loyal to no one. 

He stopped her and lectured her. How dare she do that to him. To the commonwealth. She’d rolled her eyes and told him to fuck off or she’d blow his brains out too. He says fine glares at her and Porter, and then leaves with a scalding message, which she shouts after him that he could grow a pair and do his own damn job for once. 

She forces him on his way to Vault 88. It was self-sufficient and she never had to visit it, and he left, albeit not without a fit. She took out her gun he walked away, aimed a shot near his feet and fires. She laughed at his jump and then turned and headed up the hill. 

She reached the top and pressed the button for the elevator. She ran to it quickly and Porter had barely made it by the time it had started to descend. She would have laughed but this moment was important. Even Porter knew it was a serious moment. 

The elevator landed and the grate screeched as it rose to allow them access to the Vault. It was cold, and she stood straighter and moved forward. They headed to the back of the vault, tracing the steps she’d first taken 211 years ago. Finally, she approached the pod room and stood in front of Nate’s pod.   
His corpse was still there. Covered in blood and frozen solid. Her hands shake as she reaches for the handle to release the door to the pod. The door hisses as it’s released and swing upwards. She pulls out her .44 and says to the corpse. 

“I think I miss you less and less as every day goes by.”

She says it to the eternal grave of her late husband. She’d found out how it malfunctioned. If you cool something too rapidly but not rapidly enough it dies. Same for heating. 

“Oh Nate. If only you could see me now.” 

She’s here for one reason and one reason only. To make sure he’s properly deceased. Sure, she saw him shot at point blank range. But her son was alive, and he wasn’t supposed to be. Which means he could very well be alive underneath the frozen blood and the gunshot wound. 

She’d come here with Porter. Oh, Porter Gage. He let her free. He was ruthless and evil, but he was understanding and calculating. He could look past her past. He trusted her to save Nuka-World and the Commonwealth from itself. And she had, with him at her side. 

Oh, but Nate. Perfect, precious, war hero and loved by all Nate. He’d tried to save her from herself. He’d tried to erase the past. He’d made it so she was confined to the short unforgiving culture that was the prewar housewife picture perfect couple. He hadn’t let her out. It was all about him and she had been stuck.

“You failed. Failed at being a husband, a father. You were weak. Now you are dead and so is Shaun. And now I’m free. You hear that? I’m free.”

She lines her gun up for the head shot and pulls the trigger. The sound reverberates loudly throughout the Vault. Nate doesn’t bleed. He’s been dead for years. She laughs out loud at this and fires again and again, until the gun needs reloaded. She dropped the gun, reaches for the latch mechanism, and pulls it as she falls to the ground. Porter is reaches out to her with one arm, a silent support. She cries for a while and he doesn’t say anything. 

Eventually, the tears stop coming and she knows she’ll still have nightmares, but at least they might be different from the ones before. 

Porter helps her up, and they leave the Vault forever, with the knowledge that the man of her past is gone for good and she’ll survive on.   
  
Chapter five. 

What’s there left to do when you own most of the Commonwealth? Claim the parts you don’t own. 

They’d started with the Railroad. She’d thrown in her MIRV grenade the Operators supplied her with. Took out most of the low-end agents. Desdemona, she had the pleasure of blowing her brains out and Deacon wasn’t here. Was he on an op? who knows. But he’ll find her eventually. She left the robot. Left a taunting note for Deacon and headed out of the crypt. Now it’ll be used for storing dead bodies, as it should. 

After the Railroad, she cleaned out Diamond City, starting with the stupid bitch at the trade store. The rest were easy to pick off. It was hardly a challenge. She stuck to the Marketplace, since it was broad daylight and only the children were inside. She did have a soul and she was still above killing children. Killing their parents? She wasn’t above that. She wondered if Nick would come back to check on Ellie. She’d kept Ellie alive, so the kids taken care of. She’d always wanted them; now, she had all of them. 

Then they cleared out Goodneighbor. She spared Daisy, and KLEO and Fahrenheit. The rest were either dead or enslaved and there wasn’t a problem with that. Hancock was stuck on Spectacle Island. His heart wouldn’t take him from Shaun until news spread that far and she’d doubted he’d come back to the mainland. 

Eventually Deacon did catch up with her. He’d made a speech as he shot at her, he didn’t really want her dead and the poor shots proved it. She knew he didn’t want to live; he’d had his life taken from him twice now. She evaded his shots and eventually came up behind him. When he turned around, he wasn’t wearing his sunglasses. His eyes were blue, and she was surprised she didn’t know that. She wasn’t sure what he saw when she pulled the trigger, but she was sure he’d at least see Barbara again. Wasn’t that nice? At least he got his happy ending.

After that, there wasn’t much left that she didn’t own in the Commonwealth. The settlements were locked in to paying tribute to the raiders and the rest were smart enough to keep to themselves. Nuka-World was thriving. There was more trade recently than all the past combined. She talked it over with Porter. There wasn’t much else for them to do there. Let instructions for Mags and Nisha. If they couldn’t follow directions, she was sure there would be another Porter Gage amongst the many. And so, they decided to go on an adventure to the south, maybe Florida. It would be a long way, but they took what they could carry and loaded up Dogmeat. And they set off, certain that they would find their way back to the Commonwealth in due time. 

Maybe it would change again. Maybe it would get worse. Maybe a new hero would come through and try to help. But they had changed it once, and they’d be able to change it again. The Commonwealth was theirs and God help anyone who thought differently.


End file.
